US report: Weapons shipment, previously delayed, now headed to Israel

Following a two-month delay, the US has dispatched the 500-pound bombs to Israel that the Biden administration had previously placed on hold, Israel Hayom reported.

A US government official indicated that the weapons are expected to arrive in Israel in the coming weeks. However, the shipment of additional 2,000-pound bombs remains pending.

In May, Axios reported that the Biden administration had halted a shipment of US-made ammunition to Israel, according to two Israeli officials. This incident caused significant alarm within the Israeli government, as officials scrambled to understand the reason for the hold.

A senior US administration official later confirmed the report, attributing the hold to concerns that Israel was close to initiating a full-scale assault on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.

According to the official, the decision to pause the shipment was made last week, with no final determination on whether to proceed with the shipment at a later date.

After the reports surfaced, the US opted to unfreeze part of the shipment once Israel committed to notifying the United States in advance before expanding ground operations in Rafah. Meanwhile, US and Israeli officials confirmed that the Biden administration is still assessing another part of the shipment, which includes 1,800 2,000-pound bombs.